Dive Summary:
- The American Meat Institute and other trade groups are striking back at the USDA over new country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules in a lawsuit that claims the government agency is overreaching.
- "Segregating and tracking animals according to the countries where production steps occurred and detailing that information on a label may be a bureaucrat's paperwork fantasy, but the labels that result will serve only to confuse consumers, raise the prices they pay, and put some producers and meat and poultry companies out of business in the process," said Mark Dopp, an executive at the AMI.
- The USDA maintains that the new rules demanding that meats be tracked throughout the supply chain will improve the food system while meeting U.S. international trade obligations, but the cattle and pork groups involved in the suit believe that the the USDA's demands are unconstitutional and violate the 2008 farm bill.
From the article:
... The rules went into effect in May and require labels for steaks, ribs and other cuts of meat to detail where animals grown for meat were born, raised and slaughtered. Previously, labels only required that countries of origin to be noted, so a package might say, "Product of U.S. and Canada." Now, the labels must specify "Born in Canada, raised and slaughtered in the United States." ...